Did you know that the exquisite caves of Ellora were hewn from rock formed in the greatest lava floods the world has known-eruptions so enormous that they may well have obliterated dinosaurs? Or that Bengaluru owes its unique climate to a tectonic event that took place 88 million years ago? That the Ganga and Brahmaputra sequester nearly 20 per cent of global carbon, and their sediments over millions of years have etched submarine canyons in the Bay of Bengal that are larger than the Grand Canyon?Ever heard of Rajasaurus, an Indian dinosaur which was perhaps more ferocious than T rex? Many such amazing facts and discoveries-from 70-million-year-old crocodile eggs in Mumbai to the nesting ground of dinosaurs near Ahmedabad-are a part of Indica: A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent.
Researching across wide-ranging scientific disciplines and travelling with scientists all over the country, biochemist Pranay Lal has woven together the first compelling narrative of India’s deep natural history filled with fierce reptiles, fantastic dinosaurs, gargantuan mammals and amazing plants. This story, which includes a rare collection of images, illustrations and maps, starts at the very beginning-from the time when a galactic swirl of dust coalesced to become our life-giving planet-and ends with the arrival of our ancestors on the banks of the Indus. Pranay Lal tells this story with verve, lucidity and an infectious enthusiasm that comes from his deep, abiding love of nature.
Indica won the award for the best non-fiction debut award at the Tata Lit Fest in Mumbai in 2017, the best book award at the Delhi Book Fair 2017, and was named among the top 10 memorable books of the year by Amazon and The Hindu‘s non-fiction list of 2017
Archives: Books
A Treasury Of Indian Wisdom
The civilization of the Indian subcontinent is by far the world’s oldest living civilization. A Treasury of Indian Wisdom traces its intellectual and spiritual history over 5000 years.
The anthology begins with Vedic hymns, journeys into the heart of Vedantic philosophy through the Upanishads, and discusses the fundamental truths offered by Buddhist and Jain monks. Presenting the beauty and devotion in the verses of the Bhakti, Sufi and Sikh gurus, it finally evolves into the contemporary ideologies of the moderns like Jawaharlal Nehru, J. Krishnamurti and Osho. In keeping with the spirit of pluralism, the book puts together the wide-ranging wisdom of saints and scholars, thinkers and reformers, poets and leaders.
At a time of great turmoil and transition, Dr Karan Singh’s selections come as a reminder of our timeless secular heritage for a generation seeking its place in the world.
The Power of Opportunity
Opportunities are free, abundant, and available to all-including you. Better yet, golden opportunities are like powerful magnets that attract all the resources you need to succeed. People who started with nothing-like Dhirubhai Ambani, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Sunil Mittal and Bill Gates-all leveraged the power of golden opportunities to make it big.
But there’s a catch. Because golden opportunities are golden on the inside, not on the outside, people usually miss them. For the first time, Richard M. Rothman provides you with a simple and proven process to see and choose golden opportunities. Based on over three decades of research, The Power of Opportunity is your roadmap to achieve the kind of success that you’ve never dreamed possible.
Inner Engineering (Hindi)
Inner Engineering is Sadguru’s new revolutionary book, in which he distills his own experiences with spirituality and yoga and introduces the transformational concept of Inner Engineering. Devoloped by him over several years, this powerful practice serves to align the mind and body with energies around and within, creating a world of limitless power and possibilities.
Kanthapura
‘The first literary manifesto to point to an Indian way of appropriating the English language’
-Guardian
Regarded as the first major Indian novel in English, Kanthapura is the story of how Gandhi’s struggle for Independence came to a casteist south Indian village. Young Moorthy, back from the city, brimming with new ideas, seeks to cut across ancient barriers and unite the villagers in non-violent action. The story emerges through the eyes of a delightful old woman, who comments on the villagers’ actions with sharp-eyed wisdom, evoking the spirit of India’s traditional folk epics.
‘The finest novel to come out of India in recent years’
-E.M. Forster
The Serpent And The Rope
‘Lyrical, fluid, colloquial’—The New York Times
Rama, a young scholar, meets Madeleine at a university in France. Though they seem to be made for each other, both alike in temperament and character, at times they are divided, a huge gulf separating them. Rama’s trip back to India for his father’s illness forcibly reminds him of the underlying contrasts between India and Europe, and of a certain conflict between them in himself. When he returns to France, Rama and Madeleine must face the problems in their marriage. Can they preserve their identities, or must one sacrifice one’s inheritance to make the relationship a success?
‘More than any other writer of his generation [Rao] established the status of Indian literature in English’—The Hindu
The Cat And Shakespeare
‘A teasing comedy of manners exploring metaphysical themes’—Telegraph
The Cat and Shakespeare is a gentle, almost teasing fable of two friends. Govindan Nair, an astute, down-to-earth philosopher and clerk, tackles the problems of routine living with extraordinary common sense and gusto, and his refreshing and unorthodox conclusions continually panic Ramakrishna Pai, Nair’s friend, neighbour and narrator of the story. This evocative novel brings alive the raw texture of Indian life, and delights in its humour.
‘[A] pathbreaker of Indian writing in English’—Guardian
Qahar
Vimal promised himself that he would move to Delhi and live a normal life as a family man with his wife and child; erasing every memory of his haunting past. He promised to forget that he had spent his life scraping bloody words into the wall of time.
But one day, a whirlwind puts a sudden end to the calm before the storm and he is blown away like a twig. When he opens his eyes, he finds himself in that place where he promised never to venture again.
Life Amazing Secrets (Hindi)/Jeevan ke Adbhut Rahasya/जीवन के अद्भुत रहस्य
आज मनुष्य के जीवन में इतनी आपाधापी और तनाव घर कर गया है कि उसे देखकर ऐसा लगता है, मानो वह जीना ही भूल गया हो। इसका एकमात्र समाधान यह है कि जीवन में संतुलन और उद्देश्य का समावेश किया जाए। अत्यधिक पसंद और फॉलो किए जाने वाले जीवन-प्रशिक्षक गौर गोपाल दास ने अपनी इस पुस्तक में इसके सरल-सहज उपाय बताए हैं और वह रोचक कथाओं के माध्यम से।
The New Rules of Business
Treating your customers well is no longer enough. The new rule is: employees too, have to be treated as well, if not better, than the customers. Happy employees make happy customers, and happy customers tend to be loyal.
Do you spend money in advertising to create awareness about your product? You don’t need to do that any longer. The new rule is: invest in making your product so good that it does its own marketing.
New Age companies, Amazon and Flipkart, Uber and Ola, and Netflix, among others, are dismantling the old rules of business and installing new rules in their place.
This book unfolds the mysteries of these new ways of doing business which most companies try to keep under wraps. Compellingly written with several anecdotes, this is a gripping book full of incredible insights.